Month: November 2003

Eminem : a role model ?
Difficult question, but we should dare asking. It may raise a lot of controversy, but we should try to analyse Eminem’s influence. I’d say that it actually depends on what kind of people access to his lyrics and life story.
The only great danger is the misinterpretation of his lyrics. Personally, I don’t think Eminem endangers the youth. Ghetto kids, no matter what color they are, are used to strong language anyway and usually get his jokes. Suburban kids are more likely to misinterpret his lyrics, but their parents should take their responsibilities seriously. Knowing that Eminem’s lyrics are aimed at an adult audience, they could advice them to buy clean versions of his albums. The parental advisory sticker reminds the parents of their responsibility in front of their kids. They should allow their kids to listen to any kind of music they want to, but just be careful and help them not to misinterpret it and to act foolishly in real life. But they should never forbid their kids to enjoy the music they like.
If you ask me if Eminem is a role model for me, I’d say yes, because he showed me a great model of perseverance and faith. His music has been a therapy for me in so many ways. Like anybody of us, Marshall Mathers has also made some mistakes in his life that could have even cost him his career as a superstar, but he has learnt a lot from his former mistakes. He has shown more maturity in his personal life and also in his lyrics from his latest albums. I think Eminem’s fanbase understands this very well and is not endangered by him nor by his lyrics.
Eminem joked about the misinterpretation of his lyrics in his song ‘Role Model’. It is done on purpose. You cannot take his statements seriously.
“I came to the club drunk with a fake ID
Don’t you wanna grow up to be just like me!
I’ve been with 10 women who got HIV
Now don’t you wanna grow up to be just like me!
I got genital warts and it burns when I pee
Don’t you wanna grow up to be just like me!
I tie a rope around my penis and jump from a tree
You probably wanna grow up to be just like me!!! “
Would you like to imitate a man who claims to tie a rope around his penis and to jump from a tree ? Unless you’re brainless, you won’t imitate such actions. Those sarcastic sentences are put here on purpose to make you understand how foolish and irealistic those statements are.
In fact, the biggest threat comes from intolerant conservative people who constantly target Eminem as a bad person by taking intentionally his lyrics out of their context in order to shut him down.
Marshall Mathers is not the root of all evil. Take a look at his real side and you will clearly understand that he’s not a hate monger who wants to degrade society’s values, but a sensitive artist who is craking jokes most of the time and who teaches us to humor ourselves!

Eminem has misogynistic sounding lyrics. But do those lyrics necessarely make a big misogynist of him in real life?
Of course he has talked about ‘ bitches and hos ‘ that should be ‘ raped and murdered ‘. If his lyrics are taken literally, they will shock many people. But we know that his statements are made intentionally to shock people’s consciences. As I stated it before, most of the time, people don’t take enough time to examine Eminem’s lyrics carefully. If they did, it would certainly help to avoid a lot of misunderstandings. I sometimes wish they just took time to read one song from the beginning to the end to understand those statements are not to be taken seriously.
Eminem pictures some scenes of domestic violence like in the song ‘ Kim ‘ which ends tragically. It is just a fantasy, but it also refers to domestic violence that exists in real life. Eminem hasn’t invented domestic violence nor has he invented misogyny. In fact, sexist behavior does exist particularly among conservative classes who usually take the rapper’s lyrics out of their context to justify their hatred of him.
We know that Eminem’s dark side in his songs is also a therapy to express the problem he experienced with the two women who had an important influence in his life: his mom and his ex-wife.
It’s a way to get freed from Debbie’s abusive behavior and from Kim’s infidelity.
Eminem stated that he had problems with women in his life, but he also stated that he does not consider women in general as ‘ bitches ‘ :
“I bitch, yeah. I have a fairly salty relationship with women and it’s always been like that. But most of the time, when I’m saying shit about women, when I’m saying ‘bitches’ and ‘hos’, its so ridiculous that I’m taking the stereotypical rapper to the extreme. I don’t hate women in general. They just make me mad sometimes.”
He’s just playing ladies, as you should know’
And when he feels angry about a ‘ bitch ‘ or ‘ slut ‘ in one of his songs, it is just the expression of his feeling of the moment.
‘ My thoughts are so fucking evil when I’m writing shit, if I’m mad at my girl, I’m gonna write the most misogynistic fucking rhyme in the world. It’s not how I feel in general, it’s how I feel at the moment ‘.
If Eminem was a real misogynist, he wouldn’t have stated that he doesn’t consider women in general as bitches. If we look at the facts, he’s been in a long term relationship with Kim. He has expressed his love for Kim many times and some of his friends like Proof testify that his feelings for Kim have always been true.
Both have a little girl ‘ Hailie Jade- in common. A misogynist wouldn’t show so much concern and love for his daughter.
Eminem has also adopted Dawn’s (Kim’s twin sister) little girl who currently lives with Hailie.
He even intended to adopt Whitney, Kim’s second daughter from another man.
If he despised female gender, would he allow so many girls to share is every day life ?
The facts have shown by themselves that Marshall Mathers is a very different person than the character he plays on stage.
His role is to entertain you. So just enjoy the show and don’t take the statements he makes in his songs so seriou

Eminem is constantly viewed as gay bashing. Some people automatically refer to him as Eminem, “the homophobic rapper’. He frequently uses the word ‘faggot’ in his lyrics, but with a total different meaning. The general meaning of ‘faggot’ in Eminem’s lyrics is rather ‘coward’ than anything else.
A few lines from the song ‘Criminal’ have raised a lot of controversy, particularly among people from the GLAAD ( Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation):

“My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge
That’ll stab you in the head
Whether you’re a fag or lez
Or the homosex, hermaph, or a trans-a-vest
Pants or dress’hate fags? The answer’s ‘yes'”

The problem is the same each time. At first sight, those lines seem as aggressive and as gay bashing as possible. Sure, those lines have been taken out of their context! Let’s have a deeper look at the song ‘Criminal’. Later on, Eminem says:
‘C’mon Relax Guy I Like Gay Men
Right Ken Give Me An Amen Aaa Men’
You will clearly understand that Eminem is joking (if you got a sense of humor, of course!). The whole ‘Criminal’ song is total sarcasm. Look at the chorus:
I’m A Criminal
Cuz Every Time I Write A Rhyme These People Think It’s A Crime
To Tell Em What’s On My Mind I Guess I’m A Criminal
But I Don’t Gotta Say A Word I Just Flip Em The Bird
And Keep Goin I Don’t Take Shit From No One
Eminem is just playing with people’s mind. He knows in advance what to expect from conservative politicians and he’s amused ‘in advance- about their reaction. Eminem is by no means an homophobe. All he wants is to play with people’s heads in order to make them mad:
‘ You Motherfuckin Chickens Ain’t Brave Enough
To Say The Stuff I Say So This Tape Is Shut
Shit Half The Shit I Say I Just Make It Up
To Make You Mad So Kiss My White Naked Ass
And If It’s Not A Rapper That I Make It As
Bi’ma Be A Fuckin Rapist In A Jason Mask’
But the fact that Eminem plays with irony is obvious since the beginning of the song. That’s why those accusations of homophobia sound so ridiculous:
“A Lot Of People Ask Me Stupid Fuckin Questions
A Lot Of People Think That What I Say On Records
Or What I Talk About On A Record That I Actually Do In Real Life
Or That I Believe In It
Or If I Say That I Wanna Kill Somebody That
I’m Actually Gonna Do It
Or That I Believe In It
Well Shit If You Believe That
Then I’ll Kill You
You Know Why
Cuz I’m A
Criminal
Criminal
You God Damn Right
I’m A Criminal
Yeah I’m A Criminal”
It is more than obvious that he doesn’t intend to kill anybody in real life. If that point is so obvious, it is very clear that he won’t stab nor harm gay people in real life.
I think conservative people are more likely to misinterpret those lyrics than young people who usually got that sense of humor Eminem expects from them.
Gay people are not the only target of the song. Eminem also jokes about the Lewinsky affair. He talks about preachers’ abusive behavior and about his mom’s drug addiction. ‘Criminal’ is just a crazy song that is intended to make you smile, because you know the author is joking. I’d like to ask people who seriously think Eminem expresses his hatred of gay people, if they also believe he will kill his producer and spray his brain all over the place? Don’t you think it’s ridiculous to believe his statements are serious?
‘Replacin The Doctor Cause Dre Couldn’t Make It Today
He’s A Little Under The Weather So I’m Takin His Place
Mm Mm Mmm Oh That’s Dre With An Ak To His Face
Don’t Make Me Kill Him Too And Spray His Brains All Over The Place
I Told You Dre You Should’ve Kept That Thang Put Away
I Guess That’ll Teach You Not To Let Me Play With It ‘
Eminem precisely explained his use of the word ‘faggot’ in his lyrics in an interview given to NY Rock:
NYROCK:
There has been much controversy over your liberal use of the word “faggot” and what people perceive as gay bashing. It’s put you right in the line of fire from gay and lesbian groups the world over…
EMINEM:
I’m not gay bashing. People just don’t understand where I come from. “Faggot” to me doesn’t necessarily mean gay people. “Faggot” to me just means… taking away your manhood. You’re a sissy. You’re a coward. Just like you might sit around in your living room and say, “Dude, stop, you’re being a fag, dude.”
NYROCK:
But you can see how it would insult homosexuals?
EMINEM:
Yeah, but it does not necessarily mean you’re being a gay person. It just means you’re being a fag. You’re being an asshole or whatever. That’s the way that the word was always taught to me. That’s how I learned the word. Battling with somebody, you do anything you can to strip their manhood away.
NYROCK:
Sometimes it seems that you enjoy creating a bit of ruckus. I wonder if “faggot” is really necessary …
EMINEM:
I come from Detroit where it’s rough and I’m not a smooth talker. I am who I am and I say what I think. I’m not putting a face on for the record. When I started saying “faggot” on record, I started getting people going, “You have something against gay people,” and I thought it was funny. Because I don’t; I really don’t. I have something against assholes, but I’m not into gay bashing. A lot of people are too stupid to understand it.
I’d like to add that a blatent homophobe would never have performed with Elton John and also that ‘Criminal’ has been written by in reaction to the accusation of being homophobic.
We should not forget that Eminem is not the first rapper to say ‘faggot’ in his lyrics…
When will people stop confusing hip hop with real life?

Unofficial EMINEM biographer ANTHONY BOZZA claims the foul-mouthed rapper spiraled “out of control” the moment he became a superstar.
In his book WHATEVER YOU SAY I AM: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF EMINEM, Bozza says the STAN rapper’s success led to him abusing alcohol and narcotics as he struggled to cope with the demands of international fame.
Bozza says, “He kind of spun out of control. I don’t think anyone would have been surprised if he had ended up dead or in jail.”
In an American TV interview, the author adds that on his first night out with the blond star, he witnessed a drug deal taking place.

There is one thing I particularly admire in Eminem’s artistic expression: his creative mastering of the English language. He’s a genius at work.
Since he began rapping, Eminem understood the power of words. Words can be strong weapons that will knock you right in the face. Words also have the power to make you laugh or cry.
Eminem’s style makes him unique in the world of hip hop.
Several lines of the ‘Love Me’ song from the 8 Mile soundtrack testify it very well:
‘There’s a certain mystique when I speak,
that you notice that it’s sorta unique,
cause you know it’s me, my poetry’s deep”’
His savant combination of syllables and the use of words that sound nearly the same make us feel the athmosphere of the song, whether it is stressful, funny, serious or sarcastic.
The combination of the [i] sound at the beginning of the 8 Mile song shows us that Rabbit is battling. You can feel the fight.
‘Sometimes I just feel like, quittin I still might
Why do I put up this fight, why do I still write
Sometimes it’s hard enough just dealin with real life
Sometimes I wanna jump on stage and just kill mics
And show these people what my level of skill’s like
But I’m still white, sometimes I just hate life
Somethin ain’t right, hit the brake lights
Case of the stage fright, drawin a blank like’
The listener will easily guess the doubts and the stress that surrounds Rabbit.
Rabbit wants to succeed, he knows he will have to fight hard.
The [i] sound words are so well choosen write/ life/mics/ white/ fright/ lights/ blank like
Rabbit knows that he cannot quit writing if he wants to succeed. Often he’s brought back to real life, to concrete problems, but he also has to face the stage battle and spit his words on the mic.
“I’m still white” sounds so sarcastic. Of course he is still white and he knows cannot change his skin color. He will have to face with his racial issue and fight even harder to reach his goal, knowing that he’s a white M.C.
Eminem exactly knows what kind of effects he wants to create in his songs. His art is poetry.
‘ Ayo, my pen and paper cause a chain reaction
To get your brain relaxin, cause they be actin maniac in action ‘
I particularly love the way those lines from the ‘ Infinite song ‘ from the Infinite album are composed. Can you imagine a pen and paper sheet having a chain reaction? It draws the picture of an inspired M.C whose brain is full of thoughts. His thoughts are so numerous that he cannot control the flooding of the words that he pendowns on his paper sheet. He writes so fast that the paper vanishes very fast.
‘ My rhyming skills got you climbing hills
I travel through your mind until you spine like siren drills ‘
The listener is being taken apart with a high level of rhymes. Eminem perfectly knows how to handle words. He also combines words that usually wouldn’t match. The listener will enjoy his wordplays if he pays attention to them. Eminem opens new universes of words, he uses his art to perfection.
With such a high level of skills, no wonder if he sometimes verbally kills.

Eminem’s ex, Kimberly Mathers, is a wanted woman.
Warrants for her arrest were issued after the former Mrs. Slim Shady was a no-show at two separate court dates, according to Detroit newspapers. Her attorney said Kimberly had not been heard from in a week.
Attorney Michael Smith said he last spoke to Kimberly on Oct. 30 and that “she was in great spirits.”
“Everyone is concerned,” Smith said, adding this was the longest his client had gone AWOL. “Nobody knows where she is.”
In the meantime, the rapper was awarded temporary custody of the couple’s seven-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade, according to his attorney.
“A decision was made by the court, Marshall was given full temporary custody of his daughter, Hailie,” Harvey Hauer told E! Online.
Eminem’s publicist would only say of the Mathers’ legal woes, “The order speaks for itself.”
Kimberly recently had a second daughter with another man. There has been no word on who has custody of that child.
On Thursday, after she failed to show up for an arraignment on charges of maintaining a drug den, 37th District Judge John Chmura issued a bench warrant for Kimberly’s arrest.
The charges stem from a Sept. 29 raid when cops in Warren, Michigan, answering a noise complaint, busted up a party at a hotel room she had rented where illegal substances were found.
It was the second arrest warrant issued for Mathers this week.
Mathers failed to appear at an arraignment on Tuesday for violating her bail conditions on a charge of cocaine possession. When Mathers’ attorney couldn’t reach his client, Circuit Court Judge Edward Servitto issued the bench warrant.
Mathers was busted on June 10 during a routine traffic stop after officers found less than 25 grams of cocaine.
After she failed to show for her first two pretrial hearings, Servitto ordered the 28-year-old placed under electronic house arrest.
Last month, a penitent Kimberly Mathers agreed to stay home, except to attend court appearances and counseling sessions, and to wear the electronic tether in order to avoid jail time.
Mathers may still be wearing the electronic tether says her attorney. But the device is only meant to notify authorities if she leaves home. It’s unable track her movements.

The former wife of Eminem is now a wanted woman.
Kim Mathers failed to appear for a preliminary hearing Thursday in Warren District Court to face possible charges in connection with a drug raid at a local hotel.
She is now a fugitive and two bench warrants have been issued for her arrest, Local 4 reported.
“Is Kimberly Ann Mathers in the courtroom?” Judge John Chmura said before issuing the bench warrants.
Mathers’ attorney said he and her family have not seen or heard from her since last Thursday.
“Her family and her children are praying for her. We are really concerned,” said Attorney Michael Smith.
There are two bench warrants out for Mathers since she didn’t show up for a hearing Tuesday, according to Local 4.
Mathers, 28, faces charges for a Sept. 29 party held in her Warren hotel room, according to police.
Acting on a report of a disorderly person, Warren officers spotted Mathers talking on a cellular phone outside her room at the Candlewood Suites shortly before 3 a.m., according to the Macomb Daily.
Police told the paper they heard yelling and loud music coming from inside. When she opened the door, officers saw several people inside, “several” open bottles of alcohol and cigarette rolling papers, according to a police report.
Mathers apparently told police the room was in her name and that people were using marijuana and Ecstasy at the party, the police report states.

‘Angry Blonde’ has been written by Eminem himself. This book contains most of Eminem’s lyrics from the Slim Shady Lp and the Marshall Mathers Lp, some Infinite album songs and some freestyles, a lot of pictures. Eminem also included some personal comments who will help the reader to understand the context in which each song was written.
Not only the fans, but also people who have a bad opinion about Eminem should take a look at it: it would certainly help them to do away with some stereotypes.
For those who still think Eminem actually wanted to kill Kim, they will learn that ‘Bonny and Clyde 97’ was created by Marshall to express his frustration about Kim trying to separate him from their daughter. They will also clearly understand that this song was a trick to get back at her for her to listen to the song.
People who know Eminem’s personality also know that he will make public your argument with him if you drive him mad. He is used to speaking his mind and he does it publicly.
It is funny to discover how Eminem and Dr Dre worked on ‘Guilty Conscience’ which was supposed to be called ‘Night ‘n’ Day’.
Some songs creation begin with a little joke, a little melody like ‘My Fault’ that it based on a joke about one of Eminem’s friends having a ‘bad trip’.
Sometimes Eminem gets his inspiration from negative events and stress around him. ‘The Way I Am’ is the expression of the whole stress he lets out of his chest. The words he spits in his songs are weapons against his enemies. ‘The Real Slim Shady’ is a good example, you can see how Christina Aguilera and Will Smith get dissed.
You will also have fun discovering Eminem’s collaboration with his fellows from D12. You will enter with pleasure in a world where music is a passion.
A book that is worth reading for each Eminem fan, but also for people who don’t know him and who want to investigate the mind of Slim Shady.

RAPPER Eminem has been helping Bolton pupils to get their environmental message across.
They have reinterpreted one of his songs for a new CD which tackles issues ranging from litter and graffiti to global warming.
The album features around 180 pupils from 14 primary schools and was the brainchild of Bolton Council’s youth and community environment worker Dave Shuttleworth.
The CD emerged from workshops he conducted with Year Five classes and is a mixture of cover versions of chart songs with their lyrics rewritten on an environmental theme, and new compositions.
There was one slight problem with playing Eminem, the world’s most popular rapper, in the classroom. Mr Shuttleworth said: “We had to bleep out some of the words before we let the kids listen to it in class.”
The album was recorded at Ionian Studios in Halliwell and Phoenix Studios in Bark Street with financial help from Bolton At Home, the organisation which manages the council’s housing stock, and the Government’s single regeneration budget.
Mr Shuttleworth said: “If you look how many programmes there are about being pop stars, it’s great for the kids to have a chance to go to a proper recording studio and see the mixing desk and other equipment.”
The CD will not go on sale but Mr Shuttleworth will encourage owners to “recycle” it by burning a copy onto a recordable CD and spreading the word.
“They love it, although they always get this half-embarrassed look on their faces when you play the recording back to them as if they can’t quite believe it’s them.
“The whole project is about taking something that’s quite difficult like the environmental message and associating it with something they like so they can see that it’s not boring.”
Musical styles on the album vary from rap to reggae and R ‘n’ B.
The full tracklisting for the album is:
1. The Power of Nature- Red Lane County Primary
2. One step closer- Red Lane County Primary
3. G-G-G-Graffiti- Crompton Fold
4. Beautiful- Crompton Fold
5. Captain Clean- Green Generation
6. Vandalism- Lever Edge County Primary
7. A place Where I Can Fly- Lever Edge County Primary
8. Extinction Blues- St. Columba’s Roman Catholic School
9. Why?- Castle Hill School
10. Been to the Year 3000 (and it was hot!)- Moorgate County Primary
11. Funky Planet- Green Generation
12. Don’t Drop The Can Baby!- Wally’s Youth Club
13. Messy- St. Andrews RC
14. Down in the Jungle- Top o’th’ Brow County Primary
15. Warraloadarubbish- Holy Infants Roman Catholic School
16. The Green Team Rock- Oldhams County Primary
17. Get the Low-down on the Ozone- Roscow Fold Guides
18. Keep Our Environment Clean!- Mean Green Team

EDINBURGH, Scotland (Reuters) — British singer Dido will be forever grateful to “Bad Boy” rapper Eminem for launching her on the road to stardom.
She was promoting her debut album “No Angel” across the United States in the spring of 2000 when a CD arrived in New York for her with a covering letter from one of the most controversial figures in American music.
Eminem’s decision to use the Dido song “Thankyou” in his ode to an obsessed fan “Stan” transformed her career. “It was a bolt from the blue when I got word of his interest,” she said. “Naively, I just didn’t predict the effect it would have on my career. I simply told a few mates, who also thought Eminem was cool, and then carried on promoting my album. But of course the eventual effect would be insane,” she told Reuters on Wednesday after rehearsing for her appearance at this year’s MTV Europe awards in Edinburgh.
“We both really enjoyed the song, enjoyed performing. Of course I am thankful to him,” she added.
Her critically acclaimed debut album went on to sell 12 million copies and establish her as an international star. Now she has no fears of suffering from what she calls “Difficult Second Album Syndrome.” “I was so excited to be back in the studio,” she said of the time writing the newly released album “Life for Rent.” “Being on tour for two years I was desperate to get down all these songs that were going around in my head and driving me crazy,” she said. “I got to be at home for a year and make music. I don’t know why you get a syndrome.”